Following the revelation of some U.S. retail preorder bonuses for Battlefield 3, the Origin Website reveals the bonuses for preordering the military shooter sequel from EA's online service, including access to the game's open (as in closed) beta test, along with the Physical Warfare Pack, the Back to Karkand expansion, and some exclusive items for Battlefield Play4Free. Here's word on the beta and preloads through Origin:

Open Beta for Battlefield 3 (Origin Exclusive)

Players who pre-order the game from Origin will be granted early access to the Open Beta for Battlefield 3 when it goes live in September 2011.

Pre-load and Get Ready to Play at Launch

Pre-order the PC Digital version of Battlefield 3 Limited Edition through Origin to preload your game before it launches. Preloading insures means you can play the minute Battlefield 3 releases instead of waiting to install.

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elefunk wrote on Aug 3, 2011, 02:03:From the second that Origin was announced I never expected it to be anything less than what Steamworks is for Valve games. Origin is *the* friends list, *the* server browser, *the* community integration, and more. It doesn't make sense that you would require a web browser to launch the game, that would be pretty stupid even by EA's standards. It'll be integrated right with the game. Much like how Steamworks uses a web browser for much of its stuff in-game and out-of-game.

Like it, hate it, whatever, but that's almost certainly what it'll be. And personally for me, I'd rather have a fully integrated system like that than some Gamespy shit or half-baked EA account system that Bad Company 2 had.

It wasn't in the alpha though. Your friends list on the Battlelog was not the friends you had in Origin, nor was the browser part of Origin. It loaded the game through Origin after you'd selected a server through the website and opted to join. Friends on origin didn't show up in Battlelog, and vice versa.